Militants kill alleged Afghan spy in Pakistan tribal region

An Afghan man was assassinated by Taliban militants in South Waziristan tribal region.

The man was reportedly accused of collaborating on U.S. drone strikes that killed a prominent warlord in Pakistan this month, The Newsweek Pakistan reported.

The deceased man was recognized as Asmatullah Kharoti and his body was found in Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan, officials said.

He was reportedly shot dead by militants and signs of wounds were also seeen on his neck.

According to the Newsweek Pakistan, two notes on the body ordered the remains to be left on the roadside until 10:00 a.m. “so that everyone could see the fate of spies,” and the second accusing him of being a spy and being responsible for U.S. drone attacks.

“He is a spy and was giving information to U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan about our activities,” a local official quoted the note as saying. “He is responsible for the killing of five of our senior members, including Mullah Nazir, in drone attacks. He confessed that he installed chips in digital Qurans.”

Nazir was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 2. He was the main militant commander in South Waziristan and sent insurgents to fight U.S., NATO and Afghan government troops in Afghanistan, and was accused of sheltering Al Qaeda.

He was one of the most high profile victims of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, which Islamabad publicly criticizes as a violation of sovereignty but which U.S. officials believe are a vital weapon in the war against Islamist militants.

Two militants from Nazir’s group who spoke to AFP accused Kharoti of giving Nazir a digital Quran, fitted with chips to track his movements, during a meeting at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. “He presented Nazir and others digital Qurans as a gift which were fitted with chips which help U.S. drones strike their targets,” one of the militants said. “When Mullah Nazir was returning, U.S. drones fired missiles at him in Pakistani area,” he said.